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Benedetti was born in Paso de los Toros in the department store of Tacuarembó to Brenno Benedetti y Matilde Farrugia, a family of Italian descent. Between 1938 and 1941 he lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1946 he married Luz López Alegre.

In the last ten years of his life he suffered from asthma and spent his winters in Madrid (where it was summer) in order to avoid the cold, though as his health deteriorated he eventually remained in Montevideo. In 2006 his wife Luz López died, ending more than six decades of matrimony.

He died in Montevideo on 17 May 2009, a little after six pm. He had suffered from respiratory and intestinal problems for more than a year. His remains are buried at the National Pantheon, Central Cemetery of Montevideo.[7]

Before dying, he dictated to his personal secretary, Ariel Silva what would become his last poem:[8]

Mi vida ha sido como una farsa

Mi arte ha consistido

En que esta no se notara demasiado

He sido como un levitador en la vejez

El brillo marrón de los azulejos

Jamás se separó de mi piel

(Fragment)

A free translation into English of these few lines might be as follows:

For his poetry and novels Benedetti had won numerous international awards. La Tregua, first published in 1960, has since been translated into over 20 languages and inspired The Truce. Each year below links to either the corresponding "[year] in literature" or "[year] in poetry" article:

^Gregory, Stephen William George (1999) The collapse of dialogue: Intellectuals and politics in the Uruguayan crisis, 1960-1973 Thesis, Modern Language Studies, University of New South Wales. OCLC 44284108, abstract